Starcrawler Review – More Grunge & Poses

Periodically, a young guitar band will come along and be tasked with saving rock’n’roll. Hyperbole rarely stops to define its terms, of course. Perhaps it should, since the idea that rock’n’roll as some sort of citadel in need of succour is pretty problematic.

What does it need saving from, and why? Great white hopes touted as torchbearers are often just that – white. Pleas for a wholesale return to some golden era of leather-jacketed swagger can easily dovetail into a worrying disinclination towards other, less white, genres.

The Los Angeles-based Starcrawler, whose youngest member is still in high school, closely track the fantasy photofit of a primal great white hope. They are the sort of young band that really, really excite gatekeepers of a certain age and inclination.

In an age dominated by sleek digital sounds, Starcrawler are twentynothings playing niche old music loud and outrageously. They live and die by a feral din filched from antecedents like the Stooges and Nirvana. Starcrawler’s music sulks, rants and poses fetchingly. Their eponymous debut is just out on Rough Trade – a label that knows a thing or two about great white hopes, having brought the Strokes to fame at the turn of the millennium.

As well as the lurch of reanimated grunge, there’s a Ramones-y, bubblegum so-whatness to Starcrawler tunes like I Love LA – about their plastic but quirky home town – that can turn quickly into real menace and detuned Black Sabbath riffing. The album rips by in about half an hour.

The band counter that De Wilde does not have an eating disorder, that she is just exceptionally gangly, and that if she promotes anything, it’s gymnastic androgyny. Live, it seems clear that De Wilde is probably not being starved by a modelling agency – much less an indie label. Like Joey Ramone or Jarvis Cocker, Arrow de Wilde is just not built like your average human, and – crucially – uses her atypical form to rock’n’roll, rather than waifish, ends.

Late in the set, What I Want could be Starcrawler’s grungy statement of core values – values that echo down the ages through pretty much every surly guitar outfit that has gone before, and that emphatically remain worth restating. “I don’t wanna be anything but me,” intones De Wilde, before handing the microphone to a guy in the audience, and then a girl, so they can shout it too.

It all ends with a dirgey set-closer, Chicken Woman, and a Cash guitar freakout. Even given what’s gone before – her contortions, her Regan-from-The Exorcistderangement – De Wilde still has one actual shock left in her arsenal. She vaults from the stage straight on to the bar, scattering drinks and fans, and rampages around the audience. Cash ends the night by pulling a young fan on stage and handing his guitar over to him so he can shred like a boss. Because if you could, why wouldn’t you?

In an age dominated by sleek digital sounds, Starcrawler are twentynothings playing niche old music loud and outrageously. They live and die by a feral din filched from antecedents like the Stooges and Nirvana. Starcrawler’s music sulks, rants and poses fetchingly. Their eponymous debut is just out on Rough Trade – a label that knows a thing or two about great white hopes, having brought the Strokes to fame at the turn of the millennium.

As well as the lurch of reanimated grunge, there’s a Ramones-y, bubblegum so-whatness to Starcrawler tunes like I Love LA – about their plastic but quirky home town – that can turn quickly into real menace and detuned Black Sabbath riffing. The album rips by in about half an hour.

The band counter that De Wilde does not have an eating disorder, that she is just exceptionally gangly, and that if she promotes anything, it’s gymnastic androgyny. Live, it seems clear that De Wilde is probably not being starved by a modelling agency – much less an indie label. Like Joey Ramone or Jarvis Cocker, Arrow de Wilde is just not built like your average human, and – crucially – uses her atypical form to rock’n’roll, rather than waifish, ends.

Late in the set, What I Want could be Starcrawler’s grungy statement of core values – values that echo down the ages through pretty much every surly guitar outfit that has gone before, and that emphatically remain worth restating. “I don’t wanna be anything but me,” intones De Wilde, before handing the microphone to a guy in the audience, and then a girl, so they can shout it too.

It all ends with a dirgey set-closer, Chicken Woman, and a Cash guitar freakout. Even given what’s gone before – her contortions, her Regan-from-The Exorcistderangement – De Wilde still has one actual shock left in her arsenal. She vaults from the stage straight on to the bar, scattering drinks and fans, and rampages around the audience. Cash ends the night by pulling a young fan on stage and handing his guitar over to him so he can shred like a boss. Because if you could, why wouldn’t you?

Description: The pocket strings guitar aims to improve finger's sensitivity and without the environmental restrictions and easy to carry. It allows you to practice and improve your guitar skills anywhere such as: cars, airplanes, the office, school, ... read more

Jam out in style with an acoustic guitar starter set made for aspiring musicians and pros alike. With an all-wood construction, steel strings, and a glossy, smooth natural finish, you’ll be proud to play on a guitar that gives stellar sound with ever... read more

Hohner welcomes you to the world of playing guitar. The Hohner HAG250P is a handcrafted classical guitar with an Agathis top back and sides. This wood match-up creates a crisp texture to the overall sound of the instrument. The smaller scale of this ... read more

Bcway Bluetooth Headphones! Unique Fold-able Neckband Style Super humanized design, you can wear it around your neck like a necklace, which decreases the burden on ears. More flexible and convenient to carry. First-Class Sound Quality Adopt the ... read more

Chris Stapleton's highly anticipated new album, From A Room: Volume 1, will be released May 5 on Mercury Records Nashville. The highly anticipated full-length record is the first new music from Stapleton since 2015's breakthrough double Platinum solo... read more

Limited CD/Blu-Ray edition. Oranges & Lemons is the third in a series of remixed and expanded XTC classics. The album has been mixed for 5. 1 Surround Sound from the original multi track studio master tapes by Steven Wilson with input from Andy P... read more

"Hamilton" - which transferred to Broadway following a sold-out run at The Public Theater in NYC - is the acclaimed new musical about the scrappy young immigrant Alexander Hamilton, the $10 Founding Father who forever changed America with his revolut... read more

Concert For George has been certified 8 times platinum by the RIAA since its initial release as a 2-DVD set in November 2003 and earned a 2004 Grammy Award for Best Long Form Music Video. On November 29, 2002, one year after the passing of George Har... read more

The Greatest Showman is an original musical that celebrates the birth of show business and was inspired by the ambition and imagination of PT Barnum. The film is directed by Michael Gracey, with music from Academy Award winners Benj Pasek & Justi... read more